Leah Update

Leah just turned 16 months. Where did the time go? She will go into nursery in January. Yay! At the doctor's appointment, we learned she weighs 20 pounds, 13 ounces (about a pound less than Addie) and is 29 1/2 inches tall. She's right around the 40th percentile for everything. 

Leah has been saying some words and here's what she can say:

Mama

Dada

Addie

Cheese

Please (beezz)

Thank you (kk-ooo)

Jump (juh!)

No

Although, she doesn't say a ton, she is very communicating. I always know what she wants. 

Leah is my "I can do it myself" kid. She doesn't want me to read to her, she needs to hold the book. She always has to walk up and down the stairs. If I carry her a few steps, she will get down and climb back up to scoot or walk back down. She also likes to do everything that Addie does. Leah has to sit on the little toilet before her bath. If Addie is playing dress up, count Leah in. Leah loves to hold her baby dolls, but they must be wrapped in a blanket. 

While she is very independent, she loves to cuddle when she has her milk. She always gives hugs and kisses. She is very tender hearted. 

My favorite part about Leah is that every day about 5, she gets tired of her clothes and pulls on them until I take them off. She then trucks around the house until bath time, usually with just her diaper and some shoes on. 

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Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving this year was spent with my family in Vancouver. It was perfect timing to be together. My mom had some health issues come up on the Sunday before the holiday that scared us a bit, so it was nice to go be with her. 

My sister, Makenna came home from Rexburg and she rode with me the last leg of her journey. It was fun to be with my family. I did feel bad for Marit, she had a fever. And my mom was pretty under the weather, too. 

The morning of Thanksgiving, most of my family went on a walk at a park right on the Columbia River. It was cold and beautiful. Addie enjoyed throwing sticks and rocks into the water while Leah wanted to swim in the water. 

For dinner, we headed to my aunt's home and had a great dinner. It was so beautiful. I loved seeing my grandparents and cousins too. 

The next night I got to go out (Thanks Mike) with my cousin, Katie. Can I take a second to say how much I love that my cousin is one of my closest friends? She is so fun, and she laughs at my jokes! So, we went to see a movie with her mom, aunt and a family friend. Ok, we saw Breaking Dawn, Part 2. We laughed the whole time. Then when we got back to her house, we stayed up much to late laughing about kids, talking about the temple, eating ice cream and reminiscing of college dating... 

We had such a fun time in Vancouver. 

I have to tell you my thankful list:

Mike

Addie

Leah

My parents and siblings

My in-laws

Being in Primary

The gospel

My home

My country

Frosty mornings

Baby Tylenol

Baby cuddles

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Addie Prays

We love listening to Addie pray. She prays every time we need to pray. She always says thanks for our day and she asks that her dolls and princesses will be safe. 

I love having a little window into what her mind is concerned with. 

She is so sweet and growing up so fast. I am so excited for January and having her join me in Primary! 

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My Fight

I rarely get political on Facebook or my blog. While I love politics and following them (both sides, although I lean very heavily to one side), I don't like to talk about it on the internet much. It's because I'm a people pleaser and I don't want to offend anyone. But this morning my heart is heavy and I have many thoughts running through my head. 

I firmly believe that our country has been preserved graciously by the hand of God. Many great things have come to pass in this land, but I think we have taken a turn, and not for the better. I love our country and the freedoms we enjoy; I don't want to move to Canada.

 

Last night, I was following the election very carefully, hitting refresh on my phone every couple of minutes. I was about to put my girls to bed when I saw the news. I rushed to the tv and it was confirmed. To be honest, I cried. I was devastated. My heart went out to the Romney's, and then I turned to look at my girls. They were wrestling and  playing obliviously. I cried a bit more for their future. Our world is going downhill fast. Morals are at an all-time low, the debt is at an all-time high, and I don't like where things are going. I  don't want my girls to grow up and feel entitled, I want them to know that there are consequences to your actions, I want them to work hard for what they earn, even if it isn't as much as the person sitting next to them, and I want to be proud of what they make of their lives. 

I have an even more of an uphill battle to fight at home. I have the privilege to rear my children in righteousness. It's even more important now to have family prayer and scripture study and to have real conversations as to our core beliefs and values. I want to teach them respect for everyone, even if they believe differently than we do. I want them to know that it's only by clinging to that iron rod and holding fast to our standards that we can get true happiness in this life and the next. 

The past few hours, I have had the song "God Bless America" running through my head. The words are my prayer this morning. It has given me some faith to know that we will not be left alone during harder times and God truly will sustain us if we give our all. 

God bless America

Land that I love.

Stand be side her

And guide her

Through the night with a light

From above. 

From the mountains

To the prairie

To the ocean, white with foam.

God bless America

My home sweet home!

God bless America

My home sweet home! 

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Disney on Ice

When I was in Vancouver, my dad mentioned that Disney on Ice was coming, so I checked it out and they were coming up here, too. I decided to buy Addie and I tickets. 

She made sure to wear her crown. Looking back, I should have let her wear a princess dress, but lots of girls were jealous of her crown. We sat at the very top row (which ended up being pretty nice). She was so excited and talking and talking about Rapunzel. Then the show started. Mickey Mouse and Minnie came out and she loved it. 

The first princess story was Tiana, and she has not seen that, so she didn't enjoy it as much. Cinderella was so cute! And when Rapunzel came out, I had to stop her from going down there. She was so excited. It was pretty cool. They flew around on her hair and all the kids loved it. 

At the end, all the princesses came out and Addie loved appearances by Mulan and Ariel. We didn't stop smiling the entire time. 

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